1 Chapter One ~ Trip to Korea

Mona, a high school senior with average grades from California who supports herself with a part-time job and full-time school.

She had met her boyfriend through her part-time job and from then on they were happily in love until the tragic day of the car accident.

Mona is a girl that always tries to keep everything inside and never expresses herself. And only one close friend that she met since childhood have always been around to put a smile on her face. Mona is trying to find a way out of her miserable memories hoping to do whatever she can with the help of her close friend Hee Joon who has had a crush on her since they were in kindergarten.

Hee Joon, an old friend, has been in love with Mona since day one, has always stood behind Mona, and gave her support for everything she did. He still continues wishing and hoping that one day she will realize how much he loves her. He does not care if he will ever be in a relationship with Mona. All he wants is to be by her side no matter what happens.

It's a bright Sunday morning, sunlight shining through windows as Mona packed up for her trip to Korea with her best friend, Hee Joon. Birds chirped happily. Flowers in full blossom, showing off their explosive colors to the world. People walking and talking as if all was fine, that nothing bothered them. It was like a Disney movie scene, set up perfectly for an exciting day. But it wasn't, not anymore. Today was supposed to be the day Mona and her boyfriend, Ken, go to Korea for a vacation they'd never forget. Instead, today marks the first week since her beloved was killed in a car accident. She tried not to think about it. She was supposed to be happy for Hee Joon. He's going to Korea with Mona to get her mind off of things. She knew that. He was sweet like that, always caring for her and supporting her. So she needed to put on a brave face for him.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed scraps of paper landing on the ground without a sound, like feathers. Not sure of what they were, she bent down to pick one up and investigate. Suddenly, her body froze. She only had to see one to know. They were pictures. Pictures of Ken and her, together, smiling. Of course, how could Mona forget? How could she forget that she witnessed his death and did nothing?

She fell on her bed and curled up into a ball, hugging her legs as tight as she could. All of those memories came flooding back. And then, things were silent. She didn't hear birds or people. She could only feel the warm tears running down her face. Crying on and on, not caring about anything anymore. Quiet whimpers and fast breaths accompanied her. She wanted him back now. But he's gone forever.

"Mona! Did you pack everything? Let's go!" A loud and cheerful voice filled the room. It's Hee Joon. He was an idiot at times, like now, but that didn't stop his one-man stampede or his always perky ways. "Come on! No time to be lazy! We gotta- uh. Are you...ok?" He finally noticed the scattered mess on the floor. "Hey, don't be sad! We're going to Korea, remember? Why are you crying?" He put a hand over her shoulder to try comforting her. "Stop crying, ok? You'll feel better soon, I promise!" He remembered about Ken. He also remembered that she loves him, and not Hee Joon. It pained him, but he knew that Mona is more important than some jealousy.

Their taxi arrived. They could both hear horns blaring out noisily. "It's time to go, for real now. We can get to the airport and then after that, Korea! Oh, and I'll be teaching you some basic Korean on the way. You won't get bored with me!" He thought acting happy might help boost her mood, even just a little bit, but her sorrowful face stayed the same. Mona stood up, grabbed her luggage, and left behind the photos. Hee Joon sighed as he did the same and followed her out.

They reached the airport. The two walked together towards a booth for their tickets. It was just as quiet as the flight over, but with occasional lessons. Finally, they stepped out onto land again. They kept standing and staring until Hee Joon decided to say something. Breaking the tension, he said, "Mmmm, you smell that fresh air? That.." Hee Joon starts coughing but keeps looking at Mona with her head down. "Hey, can you look up and smell this air? Full of BBQ. Full of kimchi." Mona glares at Hee Joon then looks away. "I need to go find a bathroom, are you ok by yourself here? I promise it will be quick. Don't go away, ok?" Hee Joon runs off looking for a bathroom while Mona stood in silence alone with their suitcases.

A sudden force pushes Mona on to the ground. "Ouch!" Mona looked up to see what caused the impact. A tall guy with some shades walking past her like nothing had just happened. He didn't even say a word, didn't even care to say sorry that he had bumped into her. Didn't even turn to look at what he had bumped into. Mona gets up to scream at him. "HEY, can you watch where you're going?" The prick just kept walking away.

"People are rude here," Mona mumbled under her breath. "Hey, what happened? You look like a lion who got their lunch stolen!" Hee Joon ran towards Mona. "Tell me so I can make you feel better." Mona started brushing away bits of dirt and dust off her pants while shaking her head. " I'm ok, just bumped into some jerk that thinks he's the king of the world or something." Mona grabs her luggage. "Let's go. Do you know how far the hotel is from here?"

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